MAGMA FORMATION plumes can partly melt when they reach

shallow depths, they are thought to be the

Types of Magma: cause of volcanic centers known as
1. Basaltic magma hotspots and probably also to have caused
- SiO2 45-55 % flood basalts.
- high in Fe, Mg, Ca, low in K, Na
- 1000 - 1200°C 3. Subduction Zones
- low viscosity – is a geological process that takes place at
- low gas content convergent boundaries of tectonic plates
where one plate moves under another and
2. Andesitic magma is forced to sink due to gravity into the mantle.
- SiO2 55-65 %,
- intermediate in Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K
- 800 - 1000°C
- moderate viscosity
- moderate gas content

3. Rhyolitic magma
- SiO2 65-75%,
- low in Fe, Mg, Ca, high in K, Na
- 650 - 800°C
- high viscosity Why and How magma rises up?
- high gas content • Density contrast
– magma is less dense than the surrounding
How magma is formed? country rock.
• Magma is generated in three ways: – At deeper levels - magma passes through
– Decompression Melting cracks in the surrounding rock and when
– Flux Melting enough mass and buoyancy is attained, this
– Heat Transfer Melting rock is pushed aside as the magma rises.
– At shallower levels - magma may no longer
a. DECOMPRESSION MELTING rise because its density is almost the same as
– Melting due to decrease in pressure that of the country rock. The magma starts to
– The decrease in pressure affecting a hot mantle rock accumulate.
at a constant temperature permits melting
forming magma. • Viscosity contrast
– Magmas with low viscosity flow more
b. FLUX MELTING easily than those with high viscosity.
– Melting as a result of the addition of volatiles
(compounds that have low boiling points) Factors that affect viscosity of magma:
– When volatiles mix with hot, dry rock, the volatile • ↑ TEMPERATURE
decreases the rock’s melting point and they help • ↑ SILICA CONTENT
break the chemical bonds in the rock to allow • ↑ VOLATILE CONTENT
melting.
1. Temperature
c. HEAT TRANSFER MELTING • The viscosity of magma decreases with
– Melting resulting from heat transfer from rising temperature.
magma • The higher the temperature of magma is, the
– A rising magma from the mantle brings heat with lower is its viscosity. As lava flows, it cools and
it and transfer heat to their surrounding rocks at begins to harden, its ability to flow decreases and
shallower depths which may melt. eventually it stops.

Places where magma can form: 2. Silica Content

1. Mid-ocean Ridges
– A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is an underwater
mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. –
– This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when
convection currents rise in the mantle beneath
the oceanic crust and create magma where two
tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.
2. Mantle plumes (hotspots)
– Hot mantle rock that rises toward the earth's
surface in a narrow column is called a mantle
plume.
– is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within
the Earth’s mantle. As the heads of mantle
• Magmas with high silica content are more viscous
than those with low silica content.
• The magma that contains less silica is relatively
fluid and travels far before solidifying.
3. Volatile Content
• Magmas with high volatile content are less viscous
than those with low silica content.
• ↑ TEMPERATURE – decreases viscosity
• ↑ SILICA CONTENT – increases viscosity
• ↑ DISSOLVED WATER – decreases viscosity
MAGMA DIFFERENTIATION
• is the process of creating one or more
secondary magmas from single parent magma.
• processes that operate during transportation
toward the surface or during storage in the
crust can alter the chemical composition of the
magma.

ASSIMILATION
• Contamination of magma by crustal rocks
• As magma passes through cooler rock on its
way to the surface it may partially melt the
surrounding rock and incorporate this melt into
the magma.

MAGMA MIXING
• If two magmas with different compositions
happen to come in contact with one another,
they could mix together. The mixed magma will
have a composition somewhere between that
of the original two magma compositions.

CRYSTAL FRACTIONATION
• a chemical process by which the composition
of a liquid, such as magma, changes due to
crystallization.
• When magma solidifies to form a rock it does
so over a range of temperature. Each mineral
begins to crystallize at a different temperature,
and if these minerals are somehow removed
from the liquid, the liquid composition will
change.